The recommendations made in this report aim to improve the conditions for biodiversity conservation in the selectively logged production forests of South East Asia, a region which is one of the most important hot spots for global flora and fauna and which is at the same time suffering from a very strong demand for timber. Selective logging is common practice in the natural forests of South East Asia. Under this system only a small proportion of the trees in a production forest are harvested, at more or less regular intervals, usually 20-40 years. Secondary managed forests, i.e. those that have...

A number of international organizations have provided the impetus for the development and adoption of improved national codes of practice (CoPs) for timber harvesting and forest unit management across South East Asia. Some of these CoPs contain biodiversity guidelines. Foremost amongst these organizations is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its regional office in Bangkok, which has been pivotal in supporting national CoPs through the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC)¹ (FAO 1999). The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has also been active since the early 1990s in promoting C&I for sustainable forest management.

The APFC has...

Forestry in Indonesia is carried out under a system of concessions; this system was established in 1970 by Government Regulation No.21/1970 and forms the basis for the management of natural forests in Indonesia. Under the Concession System, private sector companies are allocated felling rights to an area of natural forest for a fixed period (generally 20 years). Concessionaires harvest timber under a forest management plan which establishes an Annual Allowable Cut, the silvicultural system to be used, a minimum diameter felling limit and the felling cycle.

The concession system has evolved over the past 35 years. Additional regulations and decrees...

The aim of the recommendations is to ensure a high, profitable yield of timber while at the same time to creating and maintaining good conditions for the rich and invaluable flora and fauna of South East Asian forest landscapes. Thus the recommendations made are examples of multi-purpose use of the forest resource. Examples are provided from one country, Indonesia, where large-scale and highly mechanised logging is practised in some concessions, and another, Vietnam, where forest management is generally less intense and less technically advanced. The reason for choosing Indonesia and Vietnam was not only that they demonstrate contrasting forestry practices...